KEY POINTS
- NLNG appoints Leye Falade as CEO, effective April 26
- Falade brings experience across upstream and midstream assets in seven countries
- The company signals continuity and operational focus amid global gas market shifts
Leye Falade is the new CEO of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG. This is a big change in leadership at one of the country’s most important energy companies.
The company said that Falade will take over for Philip Mshelbila on April 26. NLNG is still trying to figure out how to deal with changing global gas markets and domestic energy needs.
NLNG didn’t say what Mshelbila’s next job would be, but they did say that the change was part of their long-term succession planning.
Global experience shapes appointment
Since April 2024, Falade has been the managing director of Brunei LNG Sendirian Berhad. He was the country chair for Shell Namibia from September 2023 to April 2024 before that.
He worked at Nigeria LNG before, where he was the general manager of production from May 2019 to September 2023. Before this job, he worked as operations manager for the company from July 2015 to May 2018.
NLNG said that Falade’s knowledge of the Bonny Island facility and how it works was a big reason why they chose him.
Falade has worked in high-level technical and management positions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Africa, in addition to Nigeria. From May 2018 to April 2019, he was the regional AMS implementation manager at Shell in The Hague.
NLNG says that the new CEO has experience in gas and oil operations, engineering, product optimization, and business improvement. The company says that his background makes him well-suited to lead operational efficiency and manage change in a complicated energy environment.
Falade has an engineering degree and an MBA from Henley Business School in the UK. His coworkers say he is a technically savvy executive who understands both operational detail and commercial strategy.
